What to watch in Olympic sports this weekend
Pan Am Games, figure skating in Vancouver among the highlights
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Over the next few days, some of Canada's top summer athletes will be competing at the Pan American Games in Chile, while winter stars take part in global events in figure skating, speed skating and alpine skiing. Here's what to follow in Olympics sports this weekend:
Pan Am Games: Canadians go for gold
On Friday, boxer Tammara Thibeault captured Canada's 30th gold medal of the Games by winning the women's 75-kg title bout against Panama's Atheyna Bylon. Thibeault also beat Bylon for the middleweight gold at the 2022 world championships before winning the Commonwealth Games title last year. The Canadian will try to add her first Olympic medal next year in Paris after qualifying with her semifinal victory yesterday.
Fellow Canadian Wyatt Sanford fought to gold in the men's 63.5kg division. He also earned an Olympic spot with yesterday's semifinal win.
Later, the Canadian beach volleyball duo of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson settled for silver after falling 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) to Brazil's Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Eduarda "Duda" Santos Lisboa, the top-ranked team in the world. Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, who were Canada's flag bearers for the opening ceremony last week, are ranked fifth.
This weekend's events are a little light on Canadian stars as we await the arrival of track and field on Monday. But standout race walker Evan Dunfee should contend for a medal in the men's 20-kilometre race on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. ET. A bronze medallist at the 2021 Olympics and 2019 world championships in the now-defunct 50km event, Dunfee placed fourth in both the 20 and 35K at this year's worlds in Budapest.
In tennis, veteran tour pro Rebecca Marino will play for a medal after advancing to the women's singles semifinals today. The semis take place Saturday and the medal matches Sunday.
Read an updated roundup of today's top Canadian performances at the Pan Ams here.
Four different channels of live Pan Am Games action are streaming all day, every day on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem. You can find them here.
Each weekday at 6 p.m. ET on those streaming platforms, CBC Sports' Anastasia Bucsis hosts a show featuring live events and highlights with a focus on Canadian athletes. The CBC TV network has additional coverage of the Games, hosted by Scott Russell and Andi Petrillo, on Saturday from 2-5 p.m. ET and Sunday from 5-7 p.m. your local time.
Figure skating: Skate Canada International
The lone Canadian stop on the Grand Prix circuit begins today at 5 p.m. ET in Vancouver with the women's short program, followed by the opening rounds of the ice dance, pairs and men's competitions. The deciding free skates go Saturday.
Last weekend at the season-opening Skate America event near Dallas, the Canadian tandems of Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha (ice dance) and Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud (pairs) both claimed silver medals. Skaters are allowed to compete in only two of the six regular Grand Prix stops, so neither duo will burn its final entry at Skate Canada.
The top Canadians competing in Vancouver are ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, who won gold at last year's Grand Prix Final before taking bronze at the world championships. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who placed fourth at both the Grand Prix Final and the worlds last season, are the top Canadians in the pairs event. Two-time national women's champion Madeline Schizas, who placed 13th at worlds, is Canada's best hope for a medal in the individual competitions. She'll be up against back-to-back women's world champ Kaori Sakamoto of Japan.
Watch every short and free skate live on CBC Sports' streaming platforms and catch a new episode of That Figure Skating Show on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET on the CBC Sports YouTube channel.
Alpine skiing: World Cup season opener
Reigning overall champions Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States and Marco Odermatt of Switzerland are both coming off magical seasons as they prepare for this weekend's giant slalom races in Austria. Besides running away with their respective overall titles by a huge margin, Shiffrin and Odermatt each captured another pair of crystal globes as the season champion of a particular discipline: Shiffrin in the giant slalom and slalom, Odermatt in the giant slalom and super-G.
Shiffrin, of course, also broke the all-time record for World Cup wins, finishing the season with 88 career victories as she captured her fifth overall title. As she heads into her first full season under personal coach Karin Harjo, the former Canadian women's team coach who took over the role late last season, Shiffrin feels she might be in the best shape of her life.
Odermatt, meanwhile, won't have to contend with World Cup slalom champion Lucas Braathen of Norway, who retired today at age 23.
Watch the women's giant slalom Saturday starting at 4 a.m. ET and the men's Sunday at 5 a.m. ET on CBC Sports' streaming platforms. Canada's top podium contender this weekend is Val Grenier, who won a World Cup giant slalom race last season. She recently joined CBC Sports' Scott Russell to help preview the new season:
WATCH | Let's Go Racing: Previewing 2023-24 World Cup alpine skiing season:
Short track speed skating: Montreal hosts again
The second of back-to-back World Cup meets at Maurice Richard Arena features medal races on Saturday and Sunday. In last week's season opener, Canada's men's and women's relay teams each won gold while three different men reached a solo podium, including a silver by triple 2022 Olympic medallist Steven Dubois.
Canadian coach Sebastien Cros called last week's individual results "a little disappointing" and said Canada's goal this week should be to top the medal standings.
Watch live races on Saturday and Sunday starting at 1:30 p.m. ET on CBC Sports' digital platforms. Catch additional coverage on the CBC TV network on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET and Sunday at 4 p.m. your local time.
